Israel: Law to safe Democracy and Security underway. To convey classified informations to the Prime Minister will be legal

It remains completely incomprehensible that in a democracy there is a need for a law, an explicit regulation, that all state documents collected by the state are fully accessible to the Prime Minister.

Of course, they are! It cannot be a crime to pass on intelligence or otherwise classified information to the Prime Minister or Minister of Defense, as it is regarded as such by some unelected authorities.

That is not the rule of law. The rule of law is if the elected ones rule. This means all pieces of information gathered by the state authorities can be principally summoned by the elected ones (civil rights of the civilians are the only reasonable restrictions as it is in all democracies). Especially information concerning war and existential threats to the people of Israel.

One has to wonder why the foundations of democracy have to be rewritten in Israel. Once, Israel was further ahead and better than today. There has been a very obvious rollback of democratic standards under the rule of the unelected elites of the ‘deep state’ since 2005.

The unelected elites must learn again that firstly, the sovereign, represented by the elected government and the Knesset, determines what is in the state’s interest. It is not defined autonomously by the state authorities.

Secondly, the state is, to put it very directly and in clear words, the servant of the sovereign (We, the people), only represented by the elected government and the Knesset, which is primus inter pares within the separation of powers (judiciary, executive, legislative). There is no fourth power such as bureaucracy, deep state, AG/ombudsman or army. They are exclusively servants. The state is not the superior entity, but rather the sovereign: We, the people. The army has to defend the citizens of Israel, and not the state per se, because the latter is merely an instrument of the people, which is the sovereign.

Thirdly, there is no law above the sovereign. The sovereign gives itself a constitution, which it puts into effect through a referendum. Unfortunately, this building block is missing in Israel. But this does not mean that unelected elites can now seize this power and present themselves as the law respectively standing above the law. Instead, in the absence of a constitution, the powers elected (Government, Knesset) by the sovereign are logically decisive. They have the final say, not an AG or a Supreme Court. That is the order of a democracy.

Against this background, this initiative of the Knesset for more democracy must be welcomed. But it will remain a patchwork if the big election promise of a full state and legal reform is not finally adopted, which should end the power of the unelected elites of the deep state and put the people into place: We, the people.

Who are the Leakers?

Last but not least, the question arises as to whether a member of the PMO staff passed on documents on the orders of the Supreme Commander (Commander in Chief) of the Army, the elected Prime Minister, to achieve military goals.

The Supreme Commander does not have to explain himself to a general or ask for permission. The Prime Minister may have had good reasons for having these documents passed on and likewise, good reasons to deny any complicity. Why? Because it provides information on how the channels work.

Surprisingly, unelected state organizations have the power to “leak” to third parties that an employee of the minister’s office allegedly passed on secret information. This action by state authorities could be considered more likely as “leaking”.

Under certain circumstances, information about procedures and processes could be passed on to hostile powers.

Time will tell how things really turned out and who are really the leakers and traitors. A parliamentary commission of inquiry, without members from the unelected elites of the deep state, of course, is inevitable.

The New Law Incoming to Stop the ‘Clerical Echelon’

“In its sitting on Wednesday, the Knesset Plenum approved in preliminary reading the Transfer of Classified Information to the Prime Minister and Ministers Bill (Legislative Amendments), 2024, sponsored by MKs Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud) and Amit Halevi (Likud). In the vote, 59 MKs supported the legislation, versus 52 MKs who opposed it. The bill will be turned over to the House Committee to decide the committee in which it will be deliberated.

It is proposed to stipulate that offences of transfer of classified information or the transfer of information without authorization will not apply to the transfer of information to the prime minister, minister of defence, or a minister who is in charge of confidential affairs, even if the person who transferred the information did not have the authority or permission to do so.” (quote out of the press release of the Knesset/4.12.2024)

MK Milwidsky said “We are in the midst of a dark period. Our democracy is under attack by a clerical echelon that believes it is correct and appropriate to conceal information from a political echelon that has responsibilities. People who have taken it upon themselves to transfer information to the Prime Minister are being persecuted. This bill wants to make it clear: If you have information that you believe should reach an appointed and responsible political echelon, and your superior refuses to transfer it – go ahead and transfer the information. We will protect you.“

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich did not mince words on X: “Israel is a country that has an army and not an army that has a country. It is hard to escape the feeling that lately there are people in the senior command of the IDF who do not understand these basic democratic principles. And those who do not understand this cannot remain in their position.”

The explanatory notes to the bill state: “(…) Prior to the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War, many military personnel were exposed to crucial information about the Jericho plan for the invasion of forces of the terrorist organization Hamas into Israeli territory, but this information did not find its way to the Prime Minister and the political echelon. Also, during the war, critical documents about the enemy’s intentions did not reach the table of the decision-makers in the political echelon.” (quote out of the press release of the Knesset/4.12.2024)

And concluded: “In order to guarantee that the political echelon in general, and the prime minister in particular, who bear the heavy responsibility of sending our finest sons and daughters to battle, will receive all the information they need in order to make decisions, and in order to prevent any apprehension among members of the security establishment about transferring information, it is proposed to prevent any criminalization of the transfer of vital information to the minister in charge, or the prime minister,” the explanatory notes state.” (quote out of the press release of the Knesset/4.12.2024)

pic AI-generated. Symbolic